Time to Get Married, Diego
by LaCorelli
Summary: NWZ. Post series. Diego returns home from a trip to find out that Don Alejandro has made preparations for his wedding in his absence and that's just the first shock he receives. Fluffy One-Shot.


**Disclaimer:** Zorro belongs to ZPI. I'm just playing with the characters.

**Author's Notes:** I don't write Christmas stories for a variety of reasons. However, I'm not averse to a bit of fun and fluff, and as I'm terribly behind with "Love Has No Rhyme and No Reason", I thought I'd offer up this little story which struck me suddenly and took very little time to write. It's about as fluffy as I can make it. And my thanks to Ghetto Outlaw as always.

**Time to Get Married, Diego**

Diego entered the hacienda after a three weeks' trip to Santa Barbara to find his father and Felipe sitting playing chess.

"Ah, son, you're back. It's about time," Alejandro said, looking up from the board. "We have a lot to discuss."

"Well, Rafael did..."

"No, not about your trip. It's your wedding," Alejandro said.

Diego froze, uncertain if he had actually heard what he thought he had heard. "My what?"

"Your wedding," his father said calmly as if it were the most expected thing in the world. "You've been putting it off far too long, so I've gone ahead and arranged it for you. We've already had two readings of the banns."

"Banns? To whom?" Diego choked out.

"To the one woman capable of handling all that marriage to you entails," Alejandro said easily.

"And that would be?"

At that moment Victoria entered the room. "Diego! You're back," she said cheerfully.

"Yes... but it seems something odd has been happening while I'm away." He looked desperately at Felipe who just shrugged his shoulders and gestured towards Don Alejandro.

"Odd, what's odd about getting married?" Alejandro asked. "You should have been married years ago."

"Father... I..."

"No, Diego, you've kept Victoria waiting long enough, and it's time you kept your promises."

"Pr-Promises?" Diego stuttered.

Victoria lifted her hand and showed the engagement ring Zorro had given her, and Diego felt the blood draining from his face.

"You know. You both know," he finally said.

"Yes," Victoria said, gently. "We've been waiting for you to be ready to tell us."

"But then I found out that _Zorro_ had proposed to Victoria, and you still weren't getting to the point..."

Diego looked at Victoria.

"It was an accident," Victoria said. "But that's how we found out we both knew."

"How long?"

"Since two days after my adventure as Zorro," Alejandro said. "You didn't really think I wouldn't remember that, did you?"

"I hoped," Diego said quietly.

"So I supposed," Alejandro said. "But the fact is, son, that you should have told us, both of us. I am your father; I would never betray you. And Victoria... you claim you love her and yet you proposed as a bandit and not as a de la Vega. I am very disappointed in you, Diego."

Diego tried to think of an answer that wouldn't seem weak but for once nothing seemed right. If he said it was because of the danger, his father could quite rightly say then he had no business proposing at all, and he had no idea what he would do if he said he was afraid that Victoria only could love Zorro not the man under the mask.

What came out of Diego's mouth instead was, "I thought you'd be more angry."

Don Alejandro shook his head. "Shows you aren't as clever as you thought, son. We understood why. How could we not?" Victoria gave Alejandro a significant look. "All right, maybe there was _some_ anger, but I'm angrier that you've had to fight this battle almost alone than angry with you and Felipe with keeping your secrets."

Diego turned to Felipe. "They know everything?" he asked.

Felipe nodded.

Victoria said, "Diego, I know you wanted to protect us, but it's time to trust us. We both love you and would do anything to protect you."

Don Alejandro broke in. "The world is always dangerous, but that doesn't mean we need to stop living. And there's no better time than now. De Soto's been gone for a month, and I know the reputation of the new man who's coming. A fair and honest man. Zorro hasn't been seen since the Emissary's death. There's no better time than now to reclaim your life. And that's why I've gone to the trouble of setting up your wedding."

"Don't worry, Diego. Everyone knows that Don Alejandro's been impatient to see you wed, and Zorro's gone, and even if he wasn't, I'm tired of waiting, and we're good friends, aren't we?"

"Of course, Victoria," Diego said.

"And friendship is an excellent basis for marriage," Alejandro said. "Diego, if anyone is talking about anything, it's about my impatience to see you married and determination not to give you a chance to back out."

Victoria looked up at Diego. "I told Don Alejandro that we should discuss it with you first, but he insisted. But I have to ask you: did you really mean to marry me?"

"Of course, I did... I mean, I do," Diego said. "I love you, Victoria. It's just this seems so... sudden."

"Sudden? It's been nearly five years," Don Alejandro broke in. "So if you're serious about Victoria, you'll be ready to marry her the day after tomorrow. Victoria's got a new dress, and we've even got a new suit for you. And now that Felipe's officially a de la Vega, he's even agreed to be best man. So as long as you don't object, we're all set."

Diego was speechless for a few moments. It had been all so hard to take in, and now it seems as if his family had planned his future for him without so much as a by your leave, and yet... it was the future he desperately wanted. But...

"Victoria, will you truly be satisfied to marry your old friend Diego? Despite everything, it's not as if I can change over night," Diego said.

"Diego, when I realized that you were Zorro, I finally saw that I had all along been attributing many of your virtues to him. Ones that he really never had time to show. It was a relief really because I had always cared for you more than I thought I should. So yes, I will love you as the man you pretend to be as well as the one you truly are. All that matters to me is that we finally start our life together and face the future united rather than divided. Are you willing to do the same?"

For the first time in his life Diego felt exceptionally slow and dull, as he absorbed what Victoria was saying, and he finally surrendered to his father's plans and his heart's desires. "Yes, of course," he said, taking her into his arms. Looking around, he noticed that his father and Felipe had disappeared from the room, so he bent to kiss her with all the enthusiasm of a man about to get married to the love of his life. When he let her go, he said, "I do love you, Victoria. I just never expected this."

Victoria smiled. "You should have. Zorro's not the only cunning one in the family."

At that moment, Alejandro reappeared in the door, followed by Felipe. "Come on you two, I've brought out some of my very finest wine. We have a lot to toast."

They followed him to the living room where glasses were already prepared. Alejandro handed them around and then rose his high. "To love, to happiness..."

"And a long life together," Diego added as he smiled warmly at Victoria.

"A long life indeed, son."

"I do have one regret," Diego said.

"What?" Alejandro and Victoria asked in unison. Felipe merely looked the question.

"That I wasted so much time." He looked into Victoria's eyes. "That I made you wait so long. Can you ever forgive me?"

She gently placed a hand on his face. "Of course I do."

"I forgive you too, Diego." Alejandro clapped a hand on his shoulder and finished the contents of his glass. "Just don't make me wait so long for grandchildren."

The End

**End Notes:**

This was just meant to be a fun piece, as I had a sudden thought, what if Alejandro as well as Victoria knew the truth and decided to take matters in hand when it seemed like Diego was never planning to come clean. I'm not sure if Alejandro really could start having the banns read if Diego wasn't around, but parents did have a lot of power back then, so I figured I'd just run with it, and after all, it's more a question of Diego being willing to go through with the ceremony after all is said and done.

Anyway, I'd love to hear what you think of this bit of non-holiday fluff.


End file.
